An alleged perpetrator, believed to have shockingly strangled a woman outside a well-known hotel in Times Square after singling her out from a throng, was detained on Tuesday, reports confirm from officers and legal enforcement insiders. The apprehended individual, identified as Jaheem Warren, 33, was taken into custody in Prospect Park, New Jersey by US Marshals in connection with the brutal and seemingly unprovoked killing.
The tragic incident occurred in front of the RIU Plaza New York Times Square Hotel, where a woman was cruelly rendered unconscious by physical force applied to her throat. The allegations currently lodged against Warren include murder, high-degree assault, and strangulation, all stemming from the horrific assault on Leslie Torres, a 23-year-old allegedly haphazardly targeted by Warren during her innocent stroll through Midtown, as per the authorities and undisclosed sources.
The catastrophic incident purportedly involved Warren pouncing on Torres without warning or provocation, leaving her unconscious after forcibly strangling her. He then callously left her body on the pavement in front of a bustling hotel, the RIU Plaza New York Times Square Hotel, situated on West 46th Street close to Eighth Avenue.
Torres, a local resident whose address was traced back to a nearby homeless shelter, was swiftly transported to Mount Sinai Hospital following the attack, though no official statements could be obtained related to her condition immediately following the events. Officers were summoned to the hospital around 1:16 a.m., which correlates with the time the severely-injured woman was received for medical care.
The investigation grew intense when police got wind of the actual crime spot. This crucial revelation came after the hotel staff, having viewed shocking surveillance footage of the violent episode, raised the alarm and notified local enforcement of the incident. The video footage proved to be instrumental in corroborating the sequence of distressing events and identifying the location of the horrendous act.
The turn of events was devastating when Torres, despite her fighting spirit, could not be revived and was pronounced dead after being taken off life support machines on November 4. Even as the horrifying incident sent shockwaves across the areas of Times Square and Midtown, investigators worked relentlessly to piece together this gruesome saga.
Warren, now in the grip of law enforcement, was found to have an alarmingly long track record of recent convictions in New Jersey, based on the documents available in public records. Before being implicated in this hair-raising incident, Warren had made frequent trips to the jail.
His initial brush with law enforcement resulted in a sentence of over four years incarceration, handed down following a 2019 conviction on charges of drug peddling and money laundering, as per the records from the correctional facility. His stint in prison culminated in his release in June 2023.
However, in a turn of events that seemed inevitable given his prior history, Warren was yet again pulled back into the churning vortex of crime and punishment. Not even five months post his release, Warren was back under the stern supervision of the law in November the same year.
In a troubling case of history repeating itself, he was once again accused of drug dealing, sending shockwaves through the community and thumping yet another nail in his criminal record. His brief stint in freedom was curtailed and he was again housed in the prison before being released from bars on March 6, only for the law to catch up with him again.